Back in the situation room, Daneel had a thoroughly impressed expression on his face as he listened to Elanev saying those words which struck a chord even in him.
From his assessment of the Black Raven King so far, there was a very high possibility that the words would have a profound effect.
"Well done, Elanev. That was definitely the best way the conversation could have gone. It is definitely that old man who is controlling the King in some way. If you can, see about following him without arousing his suspicion. But above all, stay safe. You are the most important asset we have right now."
Hearing the transmission from Daneel, a broad smile spread on Elanev's face as he walked towards the chamber he had been assigned.
This feeling of being useful and valued had exactly been what he had aspired to achieve by growing in mind and body by traveling through the continent. The many tricky and dangerous situations had honed his mind, allowing him to decide the best option in a situation as quickly as possible.
It was this quality that had enabled him to speak like so in the Throne Room, making it so that there was now at least a chance for him to still stay close to the King.
Hoping that everything would work out, he resolved to befriend some workers in the Palace to find out about the daily activities of the old man.
After all, no one had more eyes and ears in a place than those who worked there on a daily basis.
...
After deciding on a future date for another meeting and dispersing everyone in the room, Daneel waited for them to leave while looking at Faxul with a slightly worried expression on his face.
He had noticed his friend's reaction when the Throne Room had come into focus on the display trinket, leading him to believe that it was definitely a place which possibly held many memories for Faxul.
True enough, after they found themselves empty in the room, Faxul said, "I remember spending many moments with my father in that room."
Nodding, Daneel repeated the question which he had regularly asking nowadays.
"How is the entity? Any problems?"
Knowing that his friend was only asking so much because he was concerned about him, Faxul answered, "It's hibernating a lot. My blood seems to have some kind of … effect on it. It is definitely much weaker than when it attacked you, and I mostly have no problems during cultivation except for the pain."
Seeing his friend shrug off the pain that would have made others kneel on the ground screaming, Daneel marveled again at the tenacity that came with the desire for vengeance.
As for the mention of the blood, Faxul had mentioned it before, and Daneel had even asked the system to assess Faxul's blood to see if it could identify anything.
Sadly, the only thing that the system had been able to find was that there was a specific strain of blood intermixed in Faxul's. It had been unable to even say where this blood originated from.
Of course, this was definitely the Black Raven's blood which Faxul's father had mentioned in his parting video.
Even regarding its effect on the entity, Daneel had no idea.
Yet, regarding the hibernation, Daneel surmised that the entity was probably storing up its energy to attack once all together and take control of his friend.
If it weren't for the countermeasure which would definitely stop it in its tracks, Daneel would have been worried sick and insisted on removing the damn thing in the first place.
Nodding at Faxul, Daneel got up to leave the room, but he was stopped by a question.
"Can I have the Black Raven that was gifted to you? And the recording of the fight between Tenebrol and Elanev?"
Daneel actually had to think for a few moments before realizing that "Tenebrol" was actually the given name of the Black Raven King.
Yet, it was used so little that he always referred to the man by his position in his mind.
Thinking for a second, Daneel understood why Faxul had chosen to use the name.
After all, to him, the real Black Raven King was his father who had been killed.
Thus, it would make sense why he wouldn't want to call that man by his position.
As for the gifted Black Raven, it had been placed in a specific room and fed regularly. According to the report he had on the Black Raven Kingdom, this was an unawakened Raven which had been trained to the Eminent Human Level. Even though it hadn't been able to connect with anyone, due to the heightened intelligence it had because of its level, the Raven had been trained to obey basic commands such as "Attack" and "Guard".
He had already studied it with the system, so he found no reason to reject his friend's request.
"All right. But just be a bit careful. It's a feisty one."
Saying so, the King of Lanthanor left the room, leaving Faxul alone.
....
After the King left, Faxul sat back down on the chair in the situation room and replayed the recording from before.
Pausing at the image of the Throne Room and the enormous Raven statue, he tried to control the tears that came to his eyes.
Memories and moments flashed through his mind.
Playing hide and seek in the Palace and hiding behind the statue, while his father and grandfather searched everywhere before finally finding and berating him fondly for using the "Sacred" statue as a hiding place.
Being carried on those broad shoulders while he toured the grounds, watching Fighters and Mages train while feeling content about his life.
Happy smiles.
A happy family.
It was these memories that had led him to take the decision to keep the entity even if it had threatened the life of his close friend.
Daneel truly was the person he valued most in his life right now, so there was no way that he could have taken this decision if he hadn't been confident that he could handle whatever the entity threw at him.
This confidence came due to what he had felt when his body had been temporarily taken over.
At that time, he had felt a calling from somewhere within him that offered solace, comfort and strength.
It was like a bottomless pool, yet Faxul with his limited power could not even dive into it to tap its potential.
Yet, just the slightest connection with that well had enabled him to repel the entity's advances effortlessly.
The pain was still there, but the risk had disappeared, as there seemed to be some kind of wall formed by that power in the well which stopped the entity from even trying to affect or attack his psyche.
All it could do was try, which was the reason behind him feeling pain.
This was a tradeoff which Faxul heartily agreed to. The increase in training speed was well worth it even if the total pain that he endured each day doubled in amount.
He had also tried to explain this to his friend after he had gotten a clear idea about it, which had led Daneel to test his blood.
After a few moments, an official brought over two objects: a small, round ball made of what looked like marble, and a silver cage with a large Raven inside it.
As soon as the Raven entered the room, it had fixed its eye on Faxul who had also felt something that he hadn't before when the Raven had been gifted to the King in the Royal Court.
After the official left, Faxul walked forward and opened the gate without hesitation.
The reason behind Daneel calling the bird "Fiesty" had been that it refused to be touched by anyone except the King, who it must have been instructed to obey by Bevis, the envoy of the Black Raven Kingdom when he had handed it over.
In the same way that it had done before, the Eminent Human level guardian beast hopped on to Faxul's hand and ruffled its feathers, as if it liked the feeling of being in contact with him.
Even Faxul was fascinated by this feeling, as he felt connected with the Raven in a way he couldn't explain.
Although he had interacted with the Raven before, no such feeling had arisen.
Hence, the reason behind the present occurrence was quite obvious: it was because of that "well" inside him that had been tapped when he was rendered helpless by the entity.
Still, this connection wasn't like the one that was rumored to exist between Ravens and the citizens of the Black Raven Kingdom. Apparently, even thoughts were supposed to be able to be shared, but all Faxul had was a vague feeling that he would be able to understand and control the intelligent beast if he wished.
Pointing at a wine bottle on the counter in front of him, he tried to send a signal to the Raven.
WHOOSH
In a flash, the Black Raven shot off from his arm and accurately attacked the bottle, breaking it into pieces before calmly returning to Faxul's hand.
Seeing this, Faxul could only stand there dumbstruck, amazed that it had actually worked.
Just like his father had said, the blood of the true line of the Black Raven was indeed ... special.